The 14-year-old boy, a resident of Skardu, was kept in an isolation center where he tested positive for COVID-19.
The second coronavirus case in Gilgit-Baltistan emerged on Wednesday, taking the total confirmed cases in Pakistan to 20.
The 14-year-old boy, a resident of Skardu, was kept in an isolation center where he tested positive for the mysterious pneumonia-like viral illness caused by the novel coronavirus.
So far, 20 Pakistanis have tested positive for COVID-19, 15 of them belonging to Sindh, four in Gilgit-Baltistan now and one in Balochistan.
First case of coronavirus appears in Quetta, bringing the number of cases in Pakistan to 19
The first case of coronavirus emerged in the capital of Balochistan on Tuesday. The 12-year-old patient arrived in Quetta along with his parents from Iran through the Taftan border, the director of a government hospital said.
The family belongs to Dadu district in Sindh, said medical superintendent (MS) of Fatima Jinnah Hospital, adding that the child’s parents, three siblings and paternal aunt have tested negative.
One patient has already fully recovered and was discharged from Karachi hospital last week.
Meanwhile, Dr Zafar Mirza, the de facto Health Minister, has said that the federal government is closely watching the changing situation and that new cases are receiving the best medical care.
“There is no need to worry… the situation is completely under control. The federal and provincial governments are making joint efforts to protect the masses from coronavirus on a war footing,” he wrote using his official Twitter account.
Dr Mirza admitted that coronavirus cases in Pakistan have doubled in the last 24 hours.
“This is not surprising. The disease has spread to 106 countries. The 19 cases come from abroad. They are all stable. There is no evidence of local spread yet. “If we act responsibly we can prevent the spread,” he wrote.
He also advised the population to observe hygiene by properly washing their hands, avoiding touching their faces and keeping their distance from sick people.
“The government is working hard to contain the spread, but we must all participate in this fight,” he added.
All educational institutions in Sindh and Balochistan have been closed till March 13 fearing the outbreak of the contagious disease.
The mysterious COVID-19 virus, which originated in a veterinary market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, has since spread to more than 110 countries around the world, killing more than 4,000. and infecting more than 115,000 people, most in China. far.
But new outbreaks in Europe, the Middle East and Asia have stoked fears that the contagion will take hold in poor nations that lack the health infrastructure to cope.
In Pakistan (between China and Iran, both hotspots of the disease) there are growing fears about how it would deal with the outbreak.
